Entertainment

Proof the Segway Isn't Dead

Recently, Mashable tech editor Pete Pachal wrote an op-ed in which he mentioned “Segway’s failure.” He stated, “The Segway required a shift in infrastructure to deliver on its potential.” Alas, most cities weren’t willing to make said shift.

On the contrary, Pete. The Segway isn’t dead — entirely.

We may not often see Segways on our streets, but have you checked our AstroTurf? Meet Segway polo, a sport dreamed up by Silicon Valley techies and promoted by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (known to many as "The Woz").

Segway polo has spread from California to Germany, Lebanon, Sweden and Barbados. China and Thailand have shown interest, too. There’s an international championship every year since 2006 (the first was in New Zealand). Washington, D.C.'s Gallaudet University hosted 2013's, and next year is rumored to be China.

This year was the first Segway officially endorsed the sport.

The Segway needs to reinvent itself, and this growing sport just might be the place to do so. The vehicle may never be a sensible transportation device, but it has found a new niche, in spite of critics.

Segway Polo

The sport resembles traditional polo, right up to the price-point. The object of the game: Knock the ball in the opponent’s net as many times as possible. Players require little more than a Segway, a shortened version of a polo mallet and a Nerf-esque foam ball in place of regular polo's hard ball. (A harder ball might cause Segways to flip.) The game doesn't require any set positions (though someone generally goaltends), only teams of two or larger. Although direct contact is forbidden, each game requires an ambulance on-site.

The 22-page official rulebook, complete with diagrams, reads like any other sport’s, save for rules like 2.1.2.3: “The tire shall be no more than +1psi for the recommended pressure listed in the official manual for that model Segway.”

“We’re the governing body for sanctioned events for Segway polo,” board member Steve Long tells Mashable. And he thinks the game might have finally found legitimacy at this past year’s Woz Cup.

“For the first time, the company Segway Inc. is now involved in Segway Polo,” says Long. “To us, it’s justification. We feel now that it’s a sport with international recognition and recognition from the company who makes them.”

The 8th Annual Woz Cup

At first glance, Kelly Davies and George Clark don’t seem like likely friends. At lunch, Davies is smartly dressed like a D.C. professional, and Clark, a Californian in D.C. for a visit, is dressed in a Silicon Valley Aftershocks shirt. Whereas Clark plays for The Aftershocks, Davies was the 8th Annual Woz Cup Commissioner.

After the Cup moved to D.C., Davies' boss and avid Segway polo player asked her to help arrange the event. Before then, Davies had understood polo as a game played on horses or by children, as in “Marco Polo.”

“'Segway what?” Davies remembers asking.

Quickly, she learned of the first Woz Cup in New Zealand eight years ago, and the sport’s growing popularity since.

“It’s one of the fastest growing sports in the world, and almost no one knows about it,” Long says.

The game can be violent, they explain. While checking isn’t allowed, collisions happen. Clark remembers being carried off in an ambulance after one match. Long says he broke a few bones in his day.

“The last thing I saw was the ball going through the upright," he says. "Then I sustained three broken ribs. I followed the ball into the goal.”

This past year’s Cup was less eventful, though, which caught Davies off guard.

“There’s cheating!” she exclaimed. The Lebanese team allegedly swapped Segways until everyone had new tires. It was a dark moment in Segway polo history.

The Future of Segway Polo

At present, Clark says the sport still faces some difficulties. The cost to play is, of course, higher than most laypersons are willing to pay. Bringing a Segway on a commercial airplane is akin to bringing a 10-ounce opened bottle of liquid through security: not happening. That’s thanks to the Segway’s lithium battery, which is specifically prohibited.

The endorsement of Segway Inc. could reverse some of its problems, however. If the company began providing machines for matches, the sport could truly take off. While still a big “if,” international interest is growing, evidenced by China’s interest in hosting a Cup.

The main reason Segway polo is growing is simple: It’s fun. And it doesn’t hurt that The Woz lends his name to the sport. Once, Wozniak was en route to a speaking engagement but wanted to get a match in first. Clark calls him a “lightning rod."

“He went and played polo out on the field in his tuxedo, and then he went to his speaking event,” says Clark.

Maybe the sport isn’t enough to breathe life into the Segway, but if these players’ passion is any indication, the device is well on its way to finding a new market.

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